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Travel can be an expensive affair—once you take into account your flights, accommodation, food, sightseeing and activities… You can be looking at a few grand for a good week away. If you are already on a tight budget it can seem impossible to think you can go anywhere, but there are ways you can make the most of your trip even when you are short on cash! 

Transportation

The first piece of advice is to get yourself the best credit card for travel and leave your debit card at home. Especially if you are traveling to another country, your debit card won’t be accepted if your bank isn’t also available there. There are many great credit cards that even give you travel reward points with every purchase! 

Looking at flights to start off with can be stressful, especially if there is no direct route to your final destination. Although a flight might look pretty cheap to begin with, you need to take a deeper look into the extra costs involved and also think about the cost of you getting to and from the airport. Take a look at a comparison site such as Skyscanner to help you compare different flights and find the one to suit you.

If you are on a budget it will also be worth your steering clear of renting a car. It might seem to start with like renting a car is your best option, but it is not. Your daily fee may be low, but it is the fuel and parking which you need to think about, and it will rack up after the week is over. Plus who wants to be bothered with looking for parking while they are on vaca? I know I don’t. Figuring out the public transit system in the city that you’re visiting is going to be your most cost effective method of transportation.

Accommodation

Although they might not have the best reputation, hostels still offer the most affordable accommodation for those who are traveling and backpacking around. If you do want to go down this route, take a look at Hostelworld to find the best ones in your location.

Another way to save is to rent a house instead of staying in a hotel. Airbnb is usually my service of choice when it comes to looking for places to rent. Finding yourself an apartment is also going to be a great way to stay in a specific area rather than to be restricted to areas where hotels are. 

Stay connected

The beauty about technology these days is that it is much easier for us to stay in touch with our relatives back home than it used to be. If you can find a cafe near where you are staying which has free WiFi, you can hold. Skype call to home and avoid the roaming charges you’d get using your phone to call them up.

Taking tours

If you are stuck for things to do during your stay abroad, free walking tours could be the perfect answer for you. It will allow you to walk around the city or town you are staying and learn about the different landmarks. It’s a great opportunity to learn about where you staying and to meet some other travellers along the way!

Hope you found this article helpful! Don’t let your cashflow limit your wanderlust. There are always options to travel for cheap! 

Until next time, 

Angel Zheng

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